DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order to bring greater transparency to the operations of the executive department, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Sunday.
In a press conference at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, Andanar said the EO will strengthen the rights of the people to know where the budget of the government is going.
“We expect the FOI executive order to even strengthen our right to information as written and described in our 1987 Constitution,” Andanar said. “No request for information will be denied.”
He added that even the ordinary citizens can gain access to government documents as part of efforts to increase transparency.
“The outcome of this is really to lessen the corruption or even eradicate it,” Andanar said.
Andanar said, however, that the Palace would leave it to Congress to legislate FOI, so that other branches of government can also be covered by it.
Under the EO, “information” is defined as “any records, documents, papers, reports, letters, contracts, minutes and transcript of official meetings, maps, books, photographs, data, research materials, films, sound and video recording, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data, computer stored data, or any other like or similar data or materials recorded.”
The EO will cover all government offices under the executive branch, including all its offices, departments, bureaus, offices, and instrumentalities, government-owned or-controlled corporations, and state universities and colleges.
All office will have an FOI manual to follow.
The EO is immediately effective, Andanar said.
FOI was a campaign promise of Duterte, who wants to make public documents and records more available to citizens to promote transparency in government.
An FOI bill failed to muster enough support in the 16th Congress.
Under Duterte’s EO, any person who requests access to information shall submit a written request to the government office concerned.
The request shall state the name and contact information of the requesting party, provide valid proof of his identification or authorization, reasonably describe the information requested, and even the reason for or purpose of the request for information.
The public official receiving the request will provide reasonable assistance, free of charge.
Incoming Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the EO was good news because the executive branch holds from 60 to 70 percent of the government’s information.
In an interview over radio dzBB on Sunday, Pimentel said this means one can get all the information hands on even without a law.
Despite the EO, he said, Congress will push an FOI law to cover other branches of government.
Senator Grace Poe, who actively pushed for the passage of the FOI in the Senate, considered the EO a milestone.
She said she would await pronouncements on what exceptions there might be to the FOI measure.
Also on Sunday, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines, represented by its national deputy secretary-general Jose Mari Callueng, welcomed the issuance of the FOI EO to ensure that public funds from the taxpayers’ money will be used properly.
“The EO will be useful for anti-graft advocates and journalists to scrutinize state transactions and look into deals cut by the executive branch,” Callueng said.
The students are now allowed to open the books of accounts of state universities and colleges to monitor the collection of tuition and other school fees as well as other sources of income, he said. With Sandy Araneta and Rio N. Araja